Back to the Basics with Dahlias
Get back to the basics with dahlias to ensure success in your garden this summer!
If you are new to dahlias this post should give you some help to get started. If you’ve been growing a few years, this will be a good refresher course. So Back to the Basics we go!
1. Before you buy a tuber, survey your yard, add any compost- let’s get our mindset in place. Growing plants is a life long journey. Perfection won’t be gained in year 1 or 10 even. It’s a journey we embark upon to learn more about the natural world, to bring beauty into our lives, to teach us many lessons (least of all patience), and to share the beauty/bounty we grow with others. There is no succeed or fail, only lessons learned, knowledge gained, and relationships formed (with people and nature).
KA Mocha Katie
2. Remember what plants need- Every plant needs light, water, and something to grow in (usually soil). Dahlias specifically need full sun (6+ hours a day), rich soil with good drainage, and moderate water during the green growth stage and more water when blooming.
3. Dahlias need support. Most dahlias are tall plants- tall enough to need support. So place a stake or wire cage when you plant or install support netting over a full row.
4. Dahlias are hungry plants. So don’t skimp on the compost or fertilizer— Make sure your soil has enough nutrients to feed your plants properly. They prefer soils higher in phosphorus and potassium, lower in nitrogen. Too much nitrogen will create lush green plants with little to no blooms. Get a soil test from your local extension so you have a baseline to begin.
5. The more you cut, the more they bloom. I often hear of new growers being afraid to cut their blooms but the more you cut, the more the plant is triggered into producing more blooms! If you pinch out the central growing tip when the plant is around 18”-2’ tall, it will cause the plant to branch and give you more stems.
6. Dahlias are the ultimate generous gardener plant. Place one tuber in the ground in the Spring and dig up a whole clump in the fall. Or if you live in a warm climate, overwinter them in the ground and divide your generous clump in the spring and turn all your friends into Dahlia Lovers too!
Sonic Bloom
So if you read through this and thought- but I still didn’t have the results I wanted with my dahlias.
***Read through again. Really look into each step and evaluate your growing. The majority of issues with growing dahlias can be traced back to the simplest things. ***
For example, for years, I always told myself- I’ll get the netting up before they get too tall! HA!!! And for years I had so many floppy plants- lost loads of stems that I could have sold! So now I put my netting up as soon as a row gets planted. The planting is not finished unless the support netting has been installed.
For the first several years, I didn’t soil test and I had lackluster blooms. They would be small or misshapen. I finally tested my soil and found I was very low in the crucial nutrients that create bountiful blooms.
It took me several years to really believe that I could cut 2’ stems on my dahlias without damaging the plants. But then I grew a variety that was 8’ tall. I had to cut long stems in order to keep it manageable. That taught me that if I cut the first stems long, then I would continue to have long usable stems throughout the season (instead of short weak ones).
All that to say— Don’t Ignore the Basics!!! When I see new growers who have bountiful blooms on healthy plants, I can always trace it back to following the basics.
So go grab a few tubers to try this year and then over the next few months, begin to plan how you will implement the basics in your garden. Follow along with me here, lots more info coming. Also lots of info already available.
If you are ready to go deeper, it’s time to think about joining our Dahlia Growing For Beginners Virtual Course!
A Dahlia Year In Review: 2024
January is always a time of reflection and planning on the farm. I’ve been looking back at last year and forward into 2025. It’s going to be amazing for dahlias- I can just feel it! However I didn’t want to let the opportunity pass to write a review of 2024. It was interesting to say the least….
The year began in March with removing the covers from our over wintered dahlia trial. The plants were already sprouted when we removed the tarps in early March. We even got lucky last year and only had one mild frost after the tarp removal. This nipped the plants back just a bit but not much.
We also took loads of cuttings last spring to fill up our field with new varieties. We worked in a makeshift grow room last year and I’m so thankful for a much upgraded set up this year.
We planted all through May and June. We also harvested blooms during this time too- This was a new experience to be harvesting and planting at the same time. But we had blooms off our early over-wintered during May through June. At the end of June we cut those plants back to give them a break during the high heat of July. We also had some extreme heat temps in June which did cause some loss. Some of the later tubers we planted didn’t make it, they literally cooked in the ground. The rooted cuttings however did much better. Because they already have roots when planted- they establish much faster.
Left: Over wintered dahlias budding up
Center: First Blooms!
Right: Over wintered dahlias cut back and in need of some weeding
July and August came and went and we just did what we always do— Remained consistent in feeding and managing pests. It’s the only way to get through the yuck of summer and leads to beautiful fall blooms.
September came and we cut buckets and buckets of to die for blooms!
It was amazing until it wasn’t. In less than 24 hours, Hurricane Helene came through and left a wide swath of damage. We were lucky- most of the damage was in our woods with fallen trees. We still have damage to our barn to fix but it’s nothing compared to what so many experienced just an hour north of us.
From a dahlia standpoint, it did end our season early. We got about another week’s worth of blooms. We lost a lot of plants to rot in one of our fields that was just beginning to bloom for the season- several 1000’s of dollars worth of loss. We won’t really know the full loss until we pull back the tarps this March to see what tubers still remain. I’m fully planning on making extra cuttings to replace the ones that rotted. It was hard to tell at the end of the season. Several rows had 20-30’ of rot and then the rest would be fine. Overall the hurricane was also a big contributor to lower tuber yields this year too.
But that’s another reason I’m thankful for an upgraded grow room this year. We are growing lots of rooted cuttings for our farm and for sale!
Here’s to 2025— May she be free of extreme heat waves and devasting hurricanes!
Planning Your Cut Flower Garden With Dahlias
We all know that dahlias are the queen of any flower bouquet but every bouquet needs some supporting players. Earlier this week, I asked my crew what their favorites annuals were to plant with dahlias in a cut flower garden. I know every one is planning their summer gardens right now so read on for a bit of inspiration.
We are going to go in alphabetical order here:
Asters: These are a great early fall bloomer to complement dahlias. They do work better if you are a cool zone 7 or lower. Sadly I haven’t seen a lot of success for these in extreme heat climates. You need to know that they must be planted early in the season (April/May). They have to establish under shorter day lengths so plant with enough time for them to bulk up before the summer solstice. The decreasing of daylength after the solstice is what initiates the buds on them—therefore leading to a beautiful early fall bloom.
My Crews Top Picks:
Melissa- Tower Violet
Baylee- Tower Salmon
Celosia: These beauties are the opposite of asters. They love the heat! If you are in a cooler climate, you could try them inside a hoophouse, even a small backyard one might give you the extra heat needed to grow it. Celosia can be succession planted too- you can seed a set of them every month from March through July if you live in an area with a frost date of late October or later. Earlier than that, you would want to quite seeding in early June. Seeding transplants is definitely the way to go with celosia, you’ll get better results than direct seeding. But make sure to not leave your transplants in the trays too long- they don’t like to get rootbound.
My Crews Top Picks:
Melissa- Chief Persimmon
Nonah- Dragon’s Breath
Baylee- Flamingo Feather
Cosmos: You can never have too many cosmos in our opinion. We had a hard time picking just a few varieties! I like to direct seed cosmos. You can do transplants but they do very well from a direct seed and it saves time babying plants. Wait until the soil is very warm- don’t rush these into the ground immediately after your last frost date. Give it a few weeks and then they will pop out of the ground within a few days. If you choose taller varieties you may want to support or net them so they don’t fall over.
My Crews Top Picks:
Melissa- Rubenza, Bright Lights
Baylee- Double Click Bi-Color Violet, Apricot Lemonade
Nonah- Double Click Bi-Color Violet
Sophie- Rose Bon Bon
Gomphrena: Who doesn’t love the fun pop of color that gomphrena brings to a bouquet. They have such a sense of whimsy. You can succession plant these too if you want a continuous bloom all summer. Just start a new set of seeds about every 4 weeks until July. Begin seeding 4 weeks before your last frost date. Then plant after the frost clears. Pinch out the center when they are a few inches tall so that they will branch and give a lot of stems.
My Crews Top Picks:
Melissa- Firecracker
Baylee- QIS Pink
Nonah- Las Vegas Mix
Marigolds- These are the champions of fall. Such tough and hardy plants and there are so many new ones on the market these days. I grew to love marigolds again last year when we planted White Swan. Gorgeous butter yellow color and doesn’t have the strong smell of other varieties. Marigolds have a strong scent to their foliage and you either love it or hate it. These can be direct seeded very easily or transplanted- they work well either way and will sprout in a few days.
My Crews Top Picks:
Melissa, Baylee- Gem Series (specifically Lemon Star)
Nonah- White Swan
Zinnia: An easy to grow favorite! Zinnias really fill up a bouquet and the wide range of colors gives something for everyone! Start from direct seeding if your soil is sufficiently warm or transplants if you want to start the seeds early. Zinnias are another good one to succession plant. They tend to get fungus after a few weeks of blooming so good to plant multiple successions to have fresh blooms without brown spots.
My Crews Top Picks:
Melissa- Oklahoma Ivory and Benary Wine Red
Baylee- Ballerina
Nonah- Cherry Zydeco
Sophie- Queen Lime Red
So what are you going to grow with your dahlias this summer and fall. And most importantly— do you have enough dahlias?? The queens are important and there must be enough beauties to hold pride of place in your bouquet. If you need more- check out our dahlia tubers and cuttings!
Rooted Cutting Care 101
So you took the plunge and ordered some rooted cuttings! What do you do now? Well most likely you’ll be waiting a few months on them to arrive but it gives you time to prepare for their arrival.
When that magical box arrives- OPEN IT IMMEDIATELY! Don’t let it sit on the counter- you’ll forget about it. Remember it contains live plants that have been locked up in the dark for a few days. So even if you are busy, open it and open the plant enclosure and at least let the plants breathe. If they are dry, you can put them in cups with a 1/2” of water and let them slowly absorb it.
The environment you keep them in for the next few days is pretty important. Remember they’ve been growing in a warm 65 degree environment. So if it’s still on the chilly side outside, you don’t want to shock them. If you are hardcore and have grow lights in your spare bedroom (you know who you are!), place them under there until you can move them outside to begin to harden off.
So what is hardening off? It’s an expression you hear a lot in the plant world. It is the process of acclimating a plant to it’s environment. Most plants need around a week to adjust to a new environment.
Our goal is to ship your plants as close to your planting time as possible but it’s also hard for us to know the exact climate and timing all over the country. So you may have to give the plant a little care in the meantime.
Potting up your cutting into a 3” pot is also helpful. I highly recommend this for home gardeners who aren’t dealing with 1000’s of plants. Letting your cutting double in size before you plant it will only increase your chances of success. When planting, pull off the bottom set of leaves (the bottom 2) and then plant the node (the place where the leaves attach to the stem) under the soil level. By putting that node under the soil level, you just gave the plant another place to grow tubers from. So you are increasing the number of tubers you will get at the end of the season and also giving your plant a jump start on creating a healthy root system. You can also remove the bottom set of leaves again when you plant it in your garden (more nodes underground=more tubers).
Now say you don’t have grow lights and a protected place to keep your cutting. What do you do? Pot it up and then place it outside during the day so it can get good sunlight. (I don’t recommend window sills because usually the light isn’t strong enough). Make sure it’s at least 50ish outside. Then if it’s going to be freezing at night, bring it in.
But again - let me stress- the goal is to get your cutting to you within a week or two of your time to plant. However I know not every farm is the same and sometimes you might want a cutting really early- so now you know what to do with it.
So why would you want a cutting early? Well to propagate from it of course! You can take a cutting from a cutting. However I learned a bit about the timing on when to do that this summer while I was attending an ASCFG conference. I used to take the cutting as soon as the center had grown big enough for me to pinch out. But this causes the plant to branch too early and often results in two weaker stems. So let the plant grow on several nodes. I’m letting them grow to the 4th or 5th node and then taking the cutting from the center. This would be the same timing as pinching your plant back to create branching. Remember every time you pinch, you create more branches. So you want to be aware of how many pinches you take off a plant. I really think the process of having a plant that is just for cuttings is best (like you wouldn’t worry about planting it out) because taking too many can create weak stems and also lots of those weak stems.
So when do you plant? First off- you want to make sure you are past your last frost date. You also want to make sure your soil temps are at least 60ish. Planting a dahlia into cold soil does nothing to help it get going- it’s just going to sit there. So even if you are past your last frost date, you might want to wait just a bit for soil to warm up (but this also depends on what the current temps have been in your area in previous weeks). I use a cheap compost thermometer to check my soil temperature.
So let’s summarize:
1. Open your box immediately upon arrival. Offer water if cuttings are dry.
2. Harden off your cutting to acclimate it to your enviroment
3. Pot up your cutting to increase your tuber count and give it a head start on a healthy root system
4. Plant out once your last frost has passed and soil has sufficiently warmed.
A little TLC and your cutting will produce a beautiful healthy plant that will bloom a lot sooner than your tuber planted dahlias!
All the dahlias you see in these pictures are available as rooted cuttings in our ongoing sale!
Cuttings Versus Tubers- Which is Right For You?
Rooted Cutting Sale Going on Now!
Rooted Dahlia Cuttings! They’ve become all the rage recently. If you are new to the dahlia world or have only grown tubers- you may be wondering what all the fuss is about?! Well let’s see if we can de-mystify that a bit.
First off- What is a tuber and what is a rooted cutting? Let’s get real basic here.
A tuber is the underground tuberous root that is produced by a dahlia plant during one growing season (they produce tubers on their first year, you don’t have to wait until the second year- that’s a common misconception I hear often.) The clump of tubers is dug up at the end of the growing season and then washed off and divided. They are stored through the winter and replanted in the spring.
A rooted cutting is when you take a tuber and pot it up early in the growing season. When it sprouts, you cut the sprout off and put it into a rooting medium, keep the humidity and temperature right and it will root in a few weeks. Within 6-8 weeks, you have a plant ready to put in your garden. You can keep taking more cuttings of this same tuber. This is how you can quickly multiply your own dahlia stock.
So which should you choose? Well there are pros and cons to both. Let’s take a look at some of them:
Spring time and receiving your tuber/cutting:
Tuber- You receive tubers in the spring sometime and then you plant when you past the last frost date for your growing zone. They hold pretty well if you need to wait a week or two before planting.
Cutting- You’ll need to care for them when you receive them and you’ll need to plant (or pot up) not too long after receiving it. However, cuttings are usually shipped when it’s the right time for your growing zone.
Planting your tuber/cutting:
Tuber- You’ll plant your tuber in the ground and then you wait- at least 2-3 weeks, sometimes more. Some varieties can take 6-8 weeks before sprouting although most are in up 4 at the most. In this time you have to make sure it doesn’t rot and also that your soil doesn’t get too hot (the heat temperature issue isn’t usually bad unless it’s high summer and your soil is extremely warm. I didn’t used to think this was an issue but I saw a lot of tubers cook in extreme heat this past summer on a lot of farms - even some on ours.)
Cutting- You plant it and you have a plant- cuttings definitely have an instant gratification factor. You will need to water it and care for it but it’s not any different than any other plant. Since you are planting a cutting, you have at least a 2 week jump on the tuber, sometimes more if it’s a later sprouting variety.
Growth Process:
Tuber- If your tuber gets established before harsh weather (heat, drought) comes, then it has a fairly good chance of making it through. However one thing about a tuber is that the plant will use the food provided by the tuber and can be slower to push out actual roots to keep feeding itself. This can have a significant impact on it’s ability to survive harsh weather conditions.
Cutting- A cutting has roots from the moment it starts to push them out in the rooting process. Then when it gets into the ground, it immediately starts to push roots out to establish itself.
This is where I saw the advantage of a cutting over a tuber for a harsh growing climate like mine. Our weather during the planting time is very erratic- some years it’s so wet, we can’t plant for weeks. Some years it’s so dry that the tubers take weeks longer to sprout. But when we started planting more cuttings, we were able to get a consistency in our crop that we hadn’t seen in years past. Not to mention the timing- we could plant wet or dry as long as the beds where prepared early.
Putting cuttings in and using a bit of irrigation if we were in a drought works better than tubers baking in hot soil. The water used to irrigate the cuttings also helps cool the soil. If the weather is the opposite- super wet- well the cuttings love the water and grow faster. You do need to ensure good drainage but good drainage is growing 101 for dahlias anyways.
Over the past 2 years we’ve made a move to planting more cuttings than tubers. Our field was over 60% cuttings last year. I firmly believe the resiliency of those cuttings is what got us through the extreme heat wave. The plants had good root systems because they were weeks ahead of the tubers. The tubers where baking and just disappearing under the soil because of the extreme heat.
Bloom time:
Tuber- Most bloom times you see posted are from planting a tuber in the ground and then growing to a full bloom
Cutting- You’ll get blooms sooner, by at least 2 weeks because you planted a plant instead of the tuber. So if you want color in your garden quicker, use cuttings.
End of Season:
Tuber- You cut back your plant and proceed to dig a nice clump of tubers.
Cutting- You cut back your plant and proceed to dig a nice clump of tubers. There’s a myth out there that rooted cuttings don’t produce tubers but in our many years of growing experience this has not proved to be true. Yes, sometimes you dig up a dahlia and there’s nothing there or there’s only your original tuber. But our experience has been that we get the same percentage of plants that produce clumps of tubers from rooted cuttings as we do from tuber planted dahlias. How many tubers you get at the end of the season depends on several factors (genetics, fertilization, growing conditions, etc. ) but whether you planted a cutting or tuber isn’t one of them.
So what do you choose? Honestly I would give both a try. I am seeing that cuttings are working better for harsh growing conditions. Also they allow us to keep our planting schedule which is important because we try to time our dahlias to bloom when our customers want them the most. If you decide to try both and you are planting them in the same area- plant all your cuttings at one end and your tubers at the other. Your cuttings will need water at first and you don’t want to rot your tubers out. This is what we do when we have a mixed bed of tubers and cuttings. Mixing in the same bed will really show you the differences and is a great way to observe and experiment.
